Advice for a new real estate agent?

Question

Hey BP,

I'm a new agent wanting to figure out everything I need to do to start off right and have a successful first year. So far, my brokerage has me working on gathering my database of every friend/family member/acquaintance I want to keep in touch with and notify about being an agent. I've been watching videos and reading articles about how to get started. I’ve been working on getting business cards, branding, website, etc. to create a recognizable brand.

The biggest thing I’m unsure about is leads and lead gen. I have lots of friends in my database, but I’m 19 and I know my friends (all 18-20) will not be buying or selling real estate in the near future.

I want to go to networking events, meetups, etc. but COVID-19 makes that hard for the time being. Also can’t do door-to-door or anything like that to create leads.

I’ve heard the first few months are frustrating because it’s hard not knowing the ins and outs and how to do stuff, and I really want to avoid it because I want to be a reputable agent people take seriously. What do any of you experienced agents recommend focusing on right now?

Thanks guys!

Patrick J. · Answer

@Jacob Peistrup

Watch Ricky Carruth. 6 hours calls Mon-Sun and 2 hours educating yourself on the market, processes, etc etc etc.

Now is the perfect time to make phone calls. Also a lot of the part time agents and agents who weren't doing good will leave the business in a down market and focus on their full time jobs. More business for you. Old realtors will think about retiring and enjoying retirement before they catch Covid 19.

Sean McDonnell · Answer

Take any deal that comes your way. At the beginning, the experience and knowledge is far more valuable than the commission.

Treat every lead like a warm lead.

Joseph Cacciapaglia · Answer

When you're thinking about your SOI, don't just think about your first level contacts, think about the second level, which are the people that your friends know. If you have a lot of friends that are college aged, then a lot of their parents may be thinking of downsizing.  When you talk to your friends, ask if that's the case. Also, your parents probably have a lot of friends in that same situation. A lot of people give up after thinking of the first 10 people they know, but the real money is in the weak ties, the people that you have a minimal connection to.

Also, I think to some extent, the SOI is tougher for new agents. Everyone knows you as a kid, and it's sometimes harder to convince those people that they should trust you with such a large investment. I would recommend that you spend a decent amount of time and budget (you do have a marketing budget I hope) on social media marketing. I've been in this business for quite a while, and next to referrals, social media is my second best lead source. That's coming from a non-techy Gen Xer. I'm sure you can do significantly better.

Hopefully, you're at a brokerage that provides a free KVCore account, or something similar. Basically you need a program that integrates with your agent website that easily creates IDX squeeze pages. Then you run Facebook campaigns that drive traffic to these pages. If you get decent at this, leads should cost less than $2. The money comes from a decent follow up. Again, hopefully your brokerage is providing a decent CRM that automates a lot of this for you. A lot of internet leads are a little slower to convert, but if you continue to follow up and provide value, they will. If you're not with a broker that is providing the technology you need, I would suggest moving, even if that means a lower split. Tools and education trump split any day.

I would ignore any comments about CoronApocalypse making this a hard year. It just means that you need to focus on the right leads. I was a pretty green agent in 2008, but I was able to list more foreclosures and short sales than anyone else in my office, because I created a real plan to generate those leads and eventually convert them. You may need to do the same sort of thing, if the market gets to that point again. Focusing on investors is another avenue that should work well this year. There was a lot of smart money sitting and waiting for a pullback in pricing.

The main problem that agents are going to have over the next several months, or years, is all of the complainers and naysayers. Only a small percentage of agents actually sell more than a couple of homes each year. A lot of the less successful agents will be happy to waste your time and talk about how bad it is out there. Well, even in the worst markets, deals are still happening. San Antonio has been on "lock down" for the last week, but there have been almost a thousand new listing on our MLS during that time, and investors are out making offers. Just be sure you don't fall into the trap of sitting around the office (or on a zoom call today) and complaining with your buddies.

Yoni Benimetzky · Answer

Hey Jacob,

The first year is tough and the corona virus won't make this year any easier for you. Even though your network may not be buying or selling real estate, they certainly will need help with renting! Rentals is a great way to start. There is a lot of value in starting off in rentals before getting into sales. You'll learn a lot about how to interact with your clients and when done right they'll become repeat costumers in the future. In a few years your network will begin buying homes, and when they do you'll be the first person they call (we hope)

Kobe Xin · Answer

Hey @Jacob Peistrup ! I am a relatively new agent as well so you probably don't want to hear from me haha. But nonetheless I wanted to share what I've been doing lately as a real estate agent.

This sounds insensitive but there is always opportunity following a crisis, make sure to learn all the systems and best practices while you're stuck at home right now. There is no better time for self-development than right now.  Prioritize and execute, make sure to familiarize yourself with your local MLS, broker's systems,CRMS, and your own way of operating your business. That way you will master those skills and in a few months you can start crushing it out there!

Hope I can help!

Jacob Peistrup · Answer

Thank you guys! You all gave very unique answers with a lot of good information, and I appreciate the time you took to respond to this post and help me out

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